The Three Chefs

Meet our three well-travelled, inspirational chefs: Ireland’s bad boy of the cooking world Steven Kiernan, Cornish surfer dude Adam Cain and the suave and sophisticated Welshman Tristan Hopkins. They have worked with the likes of Jamie Oliver, the Roux brothers and Gordon Ramsay and today they are running their own successful restaurants.

Over the series, we’ll learn more about just what motivates the chefs and how they are inspired by the food and drink produced in their area of the country.

Adam Cain

Adam Cain

The Cornish Surfer

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Tristan Hopkins

Tristan Hopkins

The Sophisticated Welshman

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Steven Kiernan

Steven Kiernan

The Irish Bad Boy

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And who will become overall winner of the series? Their great banter, friendly rivalry and diverse personalities will appeal to a wide audience – especially those aged 30 to 50 who are looking for a cookery programme where the participants obviously love their work and the company of their fellow competitors.

Challenges

We’ll follow the chefs in a variety of testing situations such as foraging for food in the Somerset countryside, preparing a feast on the Orient Express, fishing for ingredients in the Arctic and preparing rations for modern soldiers. The talented trio grapple with the challenges with great gusto and the dynamics between the three different charismatic personalities as they use their skills and charm to win over the experts as they judge the dishes is great fun to watch.

Location

And the challenges are only part of the programme. We envisage the studio will be set in a barn location in the Somerset countryside and when they return to the studio the chefs will be working in their own individually styled kitchens to suit their own special distinctive personalities. Here the audience gets the chance to participate by tasting some of the dishes and asking questions.

Consumer Advice

There’s the opportunity for the chefs to review the latest kitchen equipment and offer their own special tips for shortcuts for example (no doubt they each have their own opinions!) as well as looking at the history and health benefits of the food they are preparing. Guest celebrities – each with a love for preparing and eating food – will bring a different element into the programmes as they are interviewed by our three chefs and get the chance to try out some challenges of their own in the studio.

Tristan Hopkins

The Sophisticated Welshman

Encouraged by his achievements in a cooking competition, young British chef Tristan Hopkins moved to London and knocked on doors until he was taken on by the famous Roux brothers. He has since travelled and cooked around the world, and says he has settled in Somerset ‘mostly because of the cider!’ But he reveals his life might have taken a very different path.

“I wanted to be a Royal Marine because my family are in the Forces but apparently I didn’t have the attitude for it – I couldn’t obey orders!” Tristan recalls.

Today, as he prepares mouth-watering dishes for satisfied customers, Tristan is happy to have chosen a career as a chef. “It’s gone well, apart from the long hours and no social life,” he laughs.

Born in Africa, Tristan says he has always been surrounded by food.

My mother grew up in Singapore so was always good at cooking Eastern food which she has passed on to me.”

"And he is looking forward to working with the two other chefs on the programme, describing it as a new adventure.

“I think food is so much better if you actually enjoy what you’re doing. If you don’t take it too seriously the food will come out better and you will have more time for love in the food which is precisely what it’s about: it’s about sharing with friends.

“Money fame, friendship – what else could I possibly want in the world!”

Adam Cain

The Cornish Surfer

Inspired by cooking with his mother in their Cornish home, Adam Cain hitched a ride to London at the age of 16 to begin his cheffing career.

Since then he has cooked in places around the world and recalls special memories from two months in Sri Lanka.

“It was an incredible learning curve,” says Adam. “I spent four days in a stone-made kitchen with an elderly lady making pastes and using these crazy leaves, it was a fantastic experience!”

Today Adam runs the 300 year old Kingsdon Inn in Somerset with his partner Cinzia where they make the most of seasonal, local and often organic produce. He says he is looking forward to joining the two other chefs for the programme, when they will be taken out of their comfort zones.

“I’m really excited about the challenges, especially the foraging, because I think getting into nature and seeing what’s growing and hopefully cooking something we find – if we find anything – will be great. And I think you will see the essence of the individual then and that will be the best bit.

“If you cut me in half and looked at my heart it would have ‘chef’ written like a piece of candy rock all the way through it!”

Steven Kiernan

The Irish Bad Boy

Highlights of Steven Kiernan’s career so far include working in some of London’s best known celebrity restaurants such as Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen and Sir Richard Branson’s Roof Garden. He made the move to Somerset in 2012 and now runs the acclaimed Silvers Pantry in the county town of Taunton with his wife Victoria. Steven says that his experience in the kitchen goes back to his days as a boy growing up in Ireland.

“I found myself at a very young age taking over cooking the family dinner which everybody was happy about because I could do it so much better than my mum! It kind of came naturally to me, I didn’t really think about it.”

He believes competing against the two other chefs in the programme will be a huge challenge for him.

“I’ve never been the kind of chef who goes into competitions or wanted to put myself out there – I’ve always been very happy in my own kitchen cooking for my customers.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to cope but ultimately I will want to win!”

When he’s not in the kitchen, Steven loves going to music concerts – especially heavy metal and punk. He says:

“I love getting tattoos done, love single malt whisky and fine cigars. And I’m a really good dad to my two little beautiful girls.”